Erie Lackawanna Alco RS3 No. 1043 is shown in Hornell, New York, in July 1973. It was built in April 1951 as Delaware, Lackawanna & Western No. 905. It would be conveyed to Conrail where it held roster numbers 5259 and 9949.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Erie Lackawanna RS3 No. 1044 is in Marion in the late 1960s passing the Marion Union Station. Behind me is EL’s Marion Yard with its diesel shop.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
The late Mike Ondecker and I rode the Erie Lackawanna’s Lake Cities to Marion in December 1967 where we found RS3 No. 1008 sunning itself in the snow-covered area in front of the diesel shop.
By outward apearances Conrail 9931 looks like an Alco locomotive. It was built in March 1953 for the Central of New Jersey as an RS3. But by the time this image was made on Nov. 1, 1980, it’s Alco power plant had been replaced by one built by EMD.
It is shown on the Fort Wayne Line in Canton at McKinley Tower were Conrail crossed the Chessie System branch to Mineral City. This was a Baltimore & Ohio route and much of it has been abandoned south of here.
This line, which is partly visible to the right of the locomotive nose, continued north to Akron and Cleveland and is used today by the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad between Akron and Independence.
The tower is partly visible in the upper left hand corner.
Erie Lackawanna RS3 No. 1019 leads a movement through the interlocking plant in Marion in mid 1973.
No. 1019 was built for the Erie by Alco in April 1951. Given that there is a caboose behind the locomotive this might be a local job.
It is crossing the Norfolk & Western and tracks by AC Tower in front of Marion Union Station. Although passenger service by Penn Central had ended two years earlier, the platforms are still in place.
An Erie Lackawanna train is returning to its home rails in Marion after having interchanged cars with the Norfolk & Western. Leading the train is Alco RS3 No. 1008. Note that immediately behind it is an EL boxcar.
For this week’s Erie Lackawanna Monday we’re going to go with a rather colorful Alco RS3 sitting near the engine house in Akron on Jan. 21. 1973. Obviously old man winter got here before us.
We’re venturing over the border today to southeast Indiana to take a look at Peabody Coal 230, an Alco RS3 that was once owned by the Louisville & Nashville.
The image was made in Lynnville, Indiana, located northeast of Evansville, on Aug. 21, 1974.
Carrying reporting marks PCCX, Peabody’s locomotive fleet that before 1980 used first generation diesels at its facilities in Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky.
For the most part Peabody bought used locomotives with EMD products being a minority on a roster that has quite a variety of makes and models.
All of these units were used in captive service.
Today’s Erie Lackawanna Monday takes us to Brier Hill Yard in Youngstown on Oct. 1, 1972.
In the top image, Alco RS3 No. 923 is getting some maintenance in the diesel house. The bottom image was made at the engine facility and features Alco S2 No. 913 and EMD F7A No. 7101.
Today’s theme for Erie Lackawanna Monday is twins. What you see are a pair of Alco RS3 units pulling an eastbound in Akron in September 1972.
Both units were built for the Erie Railroad and both joined the Conrail motive power roster a few years after this image was made.
Lead unit No. 1007 appears to have had the longer career as it was renumbered by Conrail twice.
The train is passing the EL passenger station. I wonder what happened to that building that was being used by IBM at the time.
